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Careers

Mathematics opens the doors to many promising career paths.CareerCast ranked mathematician as best job for 2014 based on four factors: environment, income, outlook, and stress. Statistician was ranked third and actuary was ranked fourth. A study by PayScale shows that the top 15 highest-earning college degrees have a common element: mathematics. Not only do many professions and majors (engineering, doctors, physics, nurses, computer science, actuarial science, etc.) require courses in mathematics, but the analytical and problem-solving skills students learn in mathematics can apply to all disciplines. The MAA is committed to providing information that helps students understand their options

Some Popular Career Choices:

Teaching

The teaching of mathematics at the K-12 level is a high-demand field and the need is expected to grow in the future. The place to go for explicit career information is the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics homepage.

Actuarial Science

Actuarial science takes mathematics and statistics and applies them to finance and insurance. Actuarial science includes a number of interrelating disciplines, including probability and statistics, finance, and economics. Check out Be An Actuary.

Computer Science

Computer science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems. Mathematicians, with their training in logical and precise thinking, are highly prized in this field. See the student section of the Association for Computing Machinery for career advice.

Operations Research

Operations research is an interdisciplinary branch of mathematics which uses mathematical methods to arrive at optimal decisions to problems in maximizing or minimizing things like costs or profits. The eventual intention behind using Operations Research is to elicit a best possible solution to a problem mathematically, which improves or optimizes the performance of the system. The group INFORMS is the world's largest society devoted to operations research/management science.

Biomathematics

Mathematical biology or biomathematics is an interdisciplinary field of study. It models natural and biological processes using mathematical techniques and tools. Results have been applied to areas such as cellular neurobiology, epidemic modelling, and population genetics. The education page of the Society for Mathematical Biology links to schools offering biomath degrees along with a description of the coursework needed.

Cryptography

Cryptography is the practice and study of hiding information. Cryptography is considered to be a branch of both mathematics and computer science. Not just for spies anymore, cryptography applications include the security of ATM cards and computer passwords.

Finance

Finance is a field that studies and addresses the ways in which individuals, businesses, and organizations raise, allocate, and use monetary resources over time, taking into account the risks entailed in their projects. Mathematicians can build models to help explain and predict the behavior of financial markets. Several schools offer Master's degrees in Financial Mathematics. A quick web search will take you to their web pages.